Anirishmanstale

I happen to remember this episode very well...But not for reasons that it was so "beautiful" and all that crap, but for the reason it was so out there and lame as to be compared to any other episode of this great series..Back in the late 50s the TV western was king of the airwaves, and nobody loved them more than my Dad and I...Every night after dinner we used to settle in and watch the great westerns that for a while there were on every night...There were many favorites with my Dad and I, but The Rifleman was always #1...We looked forward to it every week and hardly ever missed it. The reason why this episode sticks out in my head so much is because of my father's reaction when it was over...He watched the whole thing without a word, but when it was over he got up and said..."Well, that stunk"...lol. I never heard him say that about any other episode...This one just disappointed him so much being unconventional that he just had to say it...Though many westerns indeed had so called "chic flic" episodes, (Like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,etc.,) The Rifleman hardly ever went in that direction. Most of the time it was all about Lucas taking down bad guys, trying to avoid it most of the time, and in the end always trying to do the right thing as to setting a good example for raising his son right on the American frontier..This thing with the ghostly mother and Mark encountering her just didn't sit well with either my Dad nor I...I can even remember when we were watching it years later in reruns we would always refer to it as "that crappy one"...lol. Its certainly not inferior as to its acting and even some drama at the beginning, but make no mistake about it, for the true Rifleman fan this is chic flic shmultz...Just my opinion, but there you have...Only episode of the series that I think sucked...:)

Yes........Remembering when there was a time that television at least was making an attempt at being adventurous and exciting. Even if it was on a hokey family level. Now we have been reduced to seeing prime time become infested with the dreadful likes of the reality show revolution. Watching fat people work out and whine about how much being a porker has ruined their lives. Or, licking our chops at seeing the back stabbing behind the back two timing that is the very life breath of shows like "Survivor". Not even the situation comedy seems likely to survive the venomous infection that is realty TV. What chance does an old fashioned family drama have. If its all the same to you, I will catch a rerun of Kodiak. If there ever is one....

I really enjoyed this early western. Most of the oaters that came out of the 40s, even the ones honored to have John Wayne in them were not ones to be remembered in years to come as classics. This one is definitely a cut above the cookie cutter variety of that era. John Wayne plays a Boston bred pharmacist who is dapper and very sure of himself when it comes to either being strong and forceful, or brimming with confidence in regards to the ladies. Although there is some of the usual fisticuffs and shootouts, this is not a typical western with multiple gunfights and saloon brawls. Its just a bit more on the civilized side for that early era. Whether your an old time John Wayne fan, or just a wannabe cowpoke like me that longs for the good old days of television when the western was king, I think this is one definitely worth your time to sit a spell for...